May 4-10, 2014

The Other Story by Tatiana De Rosnay - Nicholas is an unambitious young man who finds out something unexpected about his family. He writes a book that becomes a best seller and almost immediately falls in love with fame and fortune. I found him very unsympathetic at first. The story meanders quite a bit, going back and forth from the present to what led him to write the book. Quite a bit of explicit sex which I didn't expect. The last two chapters raised this from 2 to

3 stars
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A Gladiator Dies Only Once by Steven Saylor - a collection of short Gordianus the Finder stories. These fill in the gaps between several novels. There is a timeline at the end to help with where things fit in. Some interesting tidbits about life in Rome like what garum is and exactly what a censor did.

3.5 stars
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Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell - thank goodness this was a short book, I would have quit if it had been longer. Very depressing book about a 16 yo girl looking for her father's body so they won't lose the house he used to post bail. Language, violence, endless walking in the cold.

1 star
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Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan - David Loogan is befriended by a man, becomes an editor for his mystery magazine, and starts an affair with his wife. When the man is killed, David is one of the main suspects. This was a pretty twisty one with no one knowing what's going on. Things are revealed but maybe that's not the whole truth. The first in a series, I'll be reading the next.

4 stars
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The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen - four unemployed college graduates decide to take up kidnapping as a profession. They pride themselves on being professional and careful. Then they kidnap the wrong man. The story is told from several viewpoints - the kidnappers, the police and FBI, and the other people hunting for them.

3 stars
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A Question of Identity by Susan Hill - the 7th Simon Serailler novel. This starts differently, with a trial and an acquittal. Ten years pass and finally halfway through the book there is the first murder. Simon isn't a jerk this time but other familiar characters are. Some loose ends from the previous book are cleared up. I have to wait until Oct for the next book to come out.

4 stars